Angels and Dragons ::Abandoned::
by ijuintekka
Summary: My first foray into Pokemon fan-fiction. This is being written very slowly as I progress through HeartGold and SoulSilver. Self-insert, some attempted humour, and a lot of fluff. Please don't be too harsh with me, since I am not a Pokemon expert. X3
1. Chapter 1

**-Chapter 1 ~ New Bark Town**

It was morning in the small town of New Bark. Birds chirped gleefully in the trees outside, and the morning sun was filtered through a pair of thin curtains, bathing a bedroom in a soft white light. Tekka grunted with discomfort and drew the the thick duvet over his eyes, unintentionally exposing his feet to the cold air. Tekka groaned again, cursing his luck for being stuck in this uncomfortable bed, in this tiny, chilly house in an empty, backwoods town when he could have been at home. He could have been back on the eastern island of Sinnoh, in his old city, in his old house, in his old bed, none of which were too small. He missed his friends, he missed the snow, he missed the fireplace that had kept him warm all night and day. There was really only one good thing about this town...

A louder chirping noise caught his attention, and he felt a soft object land on his chest. Forcing his heavy eyes to open, he peeled back the duvet and peered over the top. His Kirlia was sitting on top of him, chirping impatiently and trying to lure him out of bed.

"I know, Aniel, I know." Tekka said, pulling the duvet back over his eyes. "I know you want to go exploring, but I already told you; I can't take you anywhere until I get a license for this region."

Aniel understood and gave in with little protest. She crawled over the duvet and nestled herself next to Tekka's head, taking advantage of the warm pocket of air that his body heat had created under the covers.

Tekka sighed and resigned himself to giving up on sleep. He knew she meant well, and he didn't have the heart to berate her for it, but having her pressing against the side of his head was even more distracting than having the light shine in his eyes.

"Okay, okay." Tekka said throwing the duvet aside and sitting upright. "Maybe it'll be here by now, if not we can at least go downstairs and eat something."

Aniel chirped excitedly and and latched onto his arm, eager to make a start to the day even if they couldn't explore outside the town.

"Hey..." Tekka glanced to the side and raised an eyebrow at Aniel, "Can I at least change my clothes before you get too comfortable there?"

Aniel puffed out her cheeks and gave him a sour look. Tekka laughed quietly and patted her gently on the head, and in kind she hopped off released his arm and lay back down on the bed, nestling once again in the still warm duvet.

Tekka stood up and stretched his body out to its full height, standing on the balls of his toes and reaching for the ceiling. He could see a light blinking from the corner of his eye, and turned to look at the computer idling on his desk, below a rhythmically ticking clock. Tekka strode over to the computer and sat on the chair before it. Tekka pushed the power button on the base unit and let the machine hum into life as he pulled on the clothes he had set out the night before.

Tekka brushed down the red fleece sweater as the Pokenix loading screen on his monitor gave way to his desktop and the electronic mail waiting for him in his inbox. It was from Lyra, the girl living next door to him in this town. She was a nice girl, he thought, and certainly a lot more interesting than most of the people around here. She had sent the mail to remind him that she had convinced the professor to give them both one of the new species of Pokemon he had discovered.

"I don't really want another Pokemon." Tekka sighed, "I can't control the one I've got." He grinned and looked over at Aniel, who pulled the duvet down from around her eyes and glared at him.

Tekka laughed and waved her off. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He picked up a white sphere with a thin red band running across its middle, tossed it into the air and caught it on the tip of his index finger, spinning it in place and watching Aniel as she stared at him from across the room.

"But when was the last time you ever went back in here, hmm?" Tekka asked her and glanced at the spinning ball. "Not since I picked you up from the Palpark in Sinnoh, I'm sure. And before that, not since we met for the first time right? Most trainers wouldn't tolerate it." Tekka wagged the finger of his free hand at her.

Aniel looked a little sad, and pulled the duvet in tighter around herself as if to try and protect herself from the ball. Tekka bounced it up from his finger into the air and caught it firmly in the palm of his hand, putting it away in the pocket of his fleece. "But you know, I love having you out here with me." He smiled and waved at her as she hid shyly behind the soft covers. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Aniel darted off the bed and bounded up to Tekka, jumping into his lap and sending him falling backwards off the chair with a crash. She chirped happily and nuzzled her head against his chest, while Tekka groaned from the impact.

"Well..." Tekka said, pulling himself off the floor, with Aniel still attached firmly to him and singing happily to herself. "Let's go, shall we?" Tekka said, picking up a deck of cards from his desk as he passed by it, putting them in his pocket next to the Premier Ball.

Aniel released her grip on Tekka's chest and followed him out of the room, across the landing, and down the stairs to the living area. Tekka's mother was there as usual, sitting at the table and reading the mail.

"Oh, Tekka!" His mother exclaimed looking up from her reading, "You're _finally_ awake."

Tekka grit his teeth and bore through her sarcastic, chipper tone. "Yeah, I'm awake."

"And good morning to you too, Annie. Thank you for waking my good for nothing son again this morning." Tekka's mother said, bending slightly to greet Aniel, who beamed proudly back at her.

"Yeah. Good morning to you too, mum." Tekka glanced off to the side, still determined not to give into her teasing.

"Oh by the way, your license was approved." She continued, pulling a slim envelope from the pile on the table and waving it at him. "With your trainer card as well. So you two can finally get out of my hair and go wherever you want."

Tekka's expression cracked and his gaze snapped to his mother. "Not that I wanted to be here." He reminded her. "Since I already had friends, a license, and a life that didn't involve you back in Snowpoint." Tekka lurched forward and snatched the envelope from her hand. "And don't open my mail!"

"Oh my..." Tekka's mother feigned embarrassment, and coiled away from him, "You're becoming so forceful just like your father when he was your age." She fluttered her eyes and pressed one of her knuckles between her lips.

Tekka's mouth hung open wide, and he stood in brief stunned silence at this woman's audaciousness. "A-Annie, we're leaving!" Tekka pulled out his trainer card and tossed the envelope back on the counter. Tekka stormed to the front door and flung it open, expecting to see the same golden hues that had woken him up in the early afternoon, but was instead greeted my a rapidly approaching azure blob.

Tekka didn't even have time to react, let alone identify the blue mouse as it hurtled toward him and leapt at his face. "D-" Was all the sound Tekka had time to make before the Marill collided with his face and knocked him off his feet, sending him once again crashing backwards to the ground.

Aniel side stepped out of the way as her trainer came down, and sighed with jealousy as the roly poly creature squeaked with delight and latched on to Tekka's face. Tekka squirmed and screamed in protest, while trying to pull the Marill off his face.

"Dolly!" A girl exclaimed and came running up to the door after the Marill. "Let him go!"

The Marill complied and released Tekka from its death grip, bouncing back up into the girl's waiting arms.

"S-Sorry, Tekka!" The girl laughed nervously. "Dolly, just, really likes you."

Tekka's left eye twitched as he lay on the ground, his face contorted in frustration, but he tried to keep his voice as low and calm as possible. "Lyra... Keep your Marill under control."

Lyra giggled and hugged the Marill tight in her arms, and it responded in kind by squeaking pleasantly. Dolly wriggled free of Lyra's grip and bounced down to the ground, peering in through the doorway and greeting Tekka's Kirlia with a few enthusiastic squeaks.

Lyra reached down to Tekka and offered him a hand, helping him back to his feet. She smiled at him with her eyes lightly closed and a light rose coloured blush sneaking onto her energetic features. Her medium length brunette hair was tied at each side into a pair of short pigtails, the rest of her hair hidden beneath a puffy and extravagant white hat. She was fifteen, one year younger than Tekka, and blossoming into a beautiful young lady.

"The professor's waiting for us!" Lyra exclaimed, completely forgetting to ask Tekka if he was alright. "I can't wait to see the new species, it's exciting don't you think?" She chirped eagerly.

"Thrilling." Tekka rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head, and Aniel began to pat the back of his black jeans to remove the dust from the hard wooden floor.

"Oh, you're no fun." Lyra pouted, and Dolly mimicked her actions, turning her nose up at Tekka. "Come on! Before he decides to give them to someone else!" Lyra continued unabated by Tekka's apparent lack of interest.

"Alright already." Tekka gave in walked out the door with Aniel hanging close behind him.

"Good morning, Mrs Ijuin!" Lyra called through the door, "Sorry, but I'll be borrowing him for a while."

"Oh my," Tekka's mother feigned blushing once again, "Have fun you two."

Tekka didn't even need to look to see the expression she was making, his left eye twitched again and he stalked off to the western end of the town, and the wildlife research lab that waited not too far off in the distance.

Lyra laughed at closed the door behind her, folding her arms behind her back and following after Tekka and Aniel with a spring in her step.

---

The interior of lab was pleasant, bright and clean. The sunlight flooded the room unhindered, and the small number of staff that worked busily with the various creatures they were assigned to, seemed to genuinely enjoy their work.

Lyra didn't stop to greet anybody in the lab, but proceeded straight past the two rows of eight enormous glass cabinets, stuffed to the brim with books, disks, and papers, and wandered into the rear of the building where a skinny middle aged man was busily fawning over large, impressive looking microscope, totally oblivious to anything going on around.

"Professor Elm!" Lyra greeted the man happily, but got no response. "Hey, Professor." Lyra said, leaning in to project her voice a little further.

The man didn't respond, instead he continued to fiddle with the microscope, muttering to himself and twisting the dials on the machine.

"HEY! PRO-FESS-OR!" Lyra shouted, causing the man to jump sharply and hit his head against the microscope.

The man turned and adjusted the glasses on his face to get a good look at the two teenagers that had wandered into his workspace.

"Oh! Hi, you two!" Professor Elm said, as if he'd totally forgotten he'd invited them. "I was waiting for you but I-"

Tekka rolled his eyes as the professor continued to babble about his research and his findings, and blew a stray stand of his messy blonde hair out of his face.

"I'm so thankful to you two for doing this little task for me. It's the least I can do to thank you, to let you adopt these Pokemon now that we've finished researching them." Professor Elm.

"What task?" Tekka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Nobody said anything about a ta-!"

Lyra stood on Tekka's foot to keep him quiet, and laughed to cover up Tekka's pained grunt. "Of course, Professor. We're happy to help in any way we can!"

"Great! Well, go ahead and pick any one you like." Professor Elm handed each of them a Pokeball and gestured to a small pen near the window, where three Pokemon were resting quietly.

Lyra giggled gleefully and picked up the green Pokemon that was resting in the sunlight. It looked at her curiously at first but seemed to smile approvingly at her. "You're a chikorita right? Heehee, I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Tekka and Aniel peered into the pen where the remaining two Pokemon were stirring as a result of Lyra's eager exclamations. The reptilian Totodile and the fire breathing baby ferret Cyndaquil, warily watched the two newcomers who were examining them. The flame on Cyndaquil's back jumped a little higher and Tekka grinned at it and reached in carefully to touch it. "I'll be taking you I th-"

The Cyndaquil opened its mouth and bit into Tekka's hand. Tekka yelped and drew it back with the Cyndaquil still attached. Aniel shrieked and grabbed the flaming mammal, trying to pull it away from her trainer's hand, eventually prying it loose and letting it drop to the ground. The Cyndaquil squeaked in mischievous delight and skittered off across the floor.

"You git!" Enraged, Tekka grabbed hold of the normal Pokeball and chased after the Cyndaquil as it hopped around the room. "You're going down!"

Tekka hurled the Pokeball at the Cyndaquil, now hiding beneath one of the glass cabinets separating Elm's workspace from the rest of the lab. The Cyndaquil had nowhere else to run and was caught by the ball which dragged him inside in a red beam of light, capturing him without a problem. Tekka reached under the cabinet and retrieved the ball, holding it above his head and victory, still shaking his throbbing fingers. Aniel cheered and clapped for Tekka, mostly thankful that he wasn't hurt by the little creature which had acted so viciously.

"Wahahaha~!" Lyra laughed while playing with her new Chikorita, oblivious to what Tekka was doing with the Cyndaquil. "She smells like lemons, so that's what I'll call you, Little Lemon." She tickled the Chikorita, Lemon, gleefully.

Tekka looked at the Pokeball and and frowned. "Well... This guy is evil. So I guess that's your name now too, isn't it?" The ball shook as if the creature now inside it was protesting the choice of name, but Tekka wasn't about to cut it any slack. "Get used to it, Evil."

Professor Elm laughed. "That's great. Thanks you two, I'm glad they'll be going to good homes. Lyra you remember where Mr. Pokemon's house is right? If the two of you can take your new Pokemon north of Cherrygrove city to collect the package he has for me, I'd appreciate the help."

"No problem, Professor!" Lyra said, opening the Pokeball in one hand and allowing Lemon to be taken inside.

"I didn't agree to thi-" Tekka didn't get to finish his sentence as he was dragged toward the exit by Lyra and Dolly.

"We're going, Professor! We'll be back soon!"

"Thanks, you two!" Professor Elm waved as they left. "Ah... It's good to be young."

---

The journey from New Bark Town to the residence of "Mr. Pokemon", north of Cherrygrove City, had been relatively trouble free, and they were now returning to New Bark once again. The sight of Pidgeys bobbing their heads in the trees of the forested route gave way to the pleasant sea air of the small coastal town. Tekka had released Evil from his Pokeball, and was still on Route 30 chasing Caterpie through the tall grass.

Aniel watched the flaming rodent tentatively as it scurried around in search of a new victim. She wasn't sure what to make of her master's new pet. It was unsettling having someone else join their group, after all the two of them had been alone and traveled together throughout Hoenn and then Sinnoh for seven years, and in that time Tekka had never once felt the need to have another companion. Aniel shook her head though, telling herself that she didn't need to worry, no matter what happened she knew they would always be together.

"Uwaah!" Lyra exclaimed lifting an oddly shaped egg into the air. "I've never seen a Pokemon egg in person before. What do you think's inside it?"

Tekka ground his teeth together and muttered to himself, still irritated by the pair of old men they had just left behind on Route 30. "Who does he think he is? Asking me if I'm a boy or a girl. Like you can't tell just by looking at me. Idiot."

Lyra lowered the egg, and clutched it to her chest, skewing one corner of her mouth and looking at Tekka with disappointment.

"Stop! Thief!"

Both Tekka and Lyra looked up to see the form of a red haired young boy running toward them, and responding to the cry they had heard, barred his path, and he came skidding to a halt in front of them, smirking, with his perfectly tidy, long red hair barely moving from the effort.

"...Oh it's you two. You got Pokemon at the lab too, right?" The boy asked. "What a waste. They're too good for wimps like you... Now out of my way!"

The red haired boy dropped a Pokeball, and the last remaining Pokemon belonging to Professor Elm, emerged from it and hissed at Tekka and Lyra. Lyra clutched the egg protectively and frowned at the boy.

"D-Dolly!" Lyra cried out, and the round blue mouse charged toward the reptile, ready to tackle it to the ground.

The totodile dodged to the side with impressive agility, swatted Dolly off the road, hissing again as she went rolling into the trees.

"Oh no!" Lyra cried again, chasing her poor Marill as it rolled off into the trees, leaving Tekka and the red haired boy standing face to face.

"Don't tell me that's all the two of you can do?" He asked rhetorically, flipping his hair arrogantly to the side. "You really are wimps?"

Aniel appeared at Tekka's side in an instant. The familiar snapping sound and flash of light indicative of her teleportation ability was enough to put the Totodile on edge, and it lowered its head and bared its fangs looking for an opportunity to strike.

Aniel put her slender palms together and began to focus a ball of psychic energy to hurl at the upstart beast, but Tekka put his arm out and prevented her from advancing forward.

"Don't, Annie. You're too strong for it, and we can't hurt the Professor's Totodile." Tekka warned her.

Aniel grudgingly let the energy dissipate, and withdrew herself to watch from the safety of Tekka's shadow.

"Alright, Evil." Tekka smiled and snapped his fingers, pointing at the red haired boy and his stolen Pokemon. "Let's see what you can do."

The little flaming creature bound up to Tekka's side, and squared off against its reptilian opponent. The flame on its back bursting intensely as it prepared itself for a battle. Earlier in the day the two of them had shared a pen peacefully, but now it seemed they were more than eager to face off against one another.

Evil wasted no time in launching an attack, throwing its entire body at the Totodile, sending it sprawling and rolling in the dirt.

"Hmph!" The red haired boy's expression suddenly became irritated. "Not bad for a weakling, I guess."

The Totodile regained its composure and lunged back at Evil, swiping with its claws, but Evil turned to its side and let the attack pass harmlessly through the flames searing on his back. The totodile's arm smoked, and seemed a little singed but the damage was negligible. And Evil followed up with another full body tackle, sending the slower Totodile sprawling again, until it came to land at its master's feet.

The red-haired boy grit his teeth and leered at Tekka, dragging the Totodile back inside the Pokeball. "Are you happy that you won?" He asked. "Don't get too comfortable, because I'm going to be the world's greatest Trainer. One way or another!"

And with that the red-haired boy ran at full speed, barging past Tekka and Aniel and fleeing toward Cherrygrove City. As he passed by, Tekka dipped his hand into the boy's pocket, and pulled out the card that was inside it. The red haired boy continued to run, unaware that he had just been pickpocketed.

"Waah, Dolly, are you okay?"Lyra asked, balancing the egg and her dazed Marill between both hands.

Tekka looked at Lyra and chuckled to himself, then flipped the card over in his hand and read the details. It was a trainer ID for the neighbouring Kanto region, the boy's picture and name were featured prominently on the left side.

"Silver, was it?" Tekka mused watching the boy disappear into the distance. "That was actually pretty fun."


	2. Chapter 2

**-Chapter 2 ~ The Journey Begins**

"Huh..." Professor Elm scratched the back of his head. "So his name was Silver? And he got away with my Totodile.."

"I'm sorry, Professor." Lyra drew her lips together tightly and bowed. "But we brought you the egg." She said, holding it out for him to take.

"Oh?" Professor Elm looked at the egg closely before taking it in his hands. "This egg looks a little different from the ones I've seen before... No wonder he wanted me to take a look at it. I'll hold on to it for a while and see what I can find out."

Tekka stretched and pat Aniel tenderly on the head, and she chirped happily for the attention. "Well, we'll be going home."

"Wait a second, Tekka!" Professor Elm exclaimed. "I want to ask you both of you again. Will you help me get my Totodile back? I can't do it on my own, and the two of you already have four very powerful Pokemon."

"You want to send us, Professor? But isn't this a job for the police?" Lyra asked. "I mean we already lost him once."

"It's not just for that." Professor Elm explained, "The two of you have great potential, and Tekka, I already heard from your mother that you have been competing in Super Contests with your Kirlia for the past seven years."

Tekka looked proudly at Aniel, who crossed her legs like a ballerina and took a bow. "Well... We might have won a ribbon or two... or forty. Right, Annie?" Tekka grinned at her, and she twirled on the spot, continuing to show off.

"Well, have you ever considered taking the Pokemon League challenge?" Asked Professor Elm. "With her experience and Cyndaquil to start you off... You could have a chance when the tournament starts this year. Who knows... You could even become this year's champion! Haha, just kidding." Professor Elm waved off the idea. "Becoming champion isn't easy, but you can certainly make a start by qualifying at each of the gyms."

"And that guy said he was going to become a trainer too, didn't he?" Tekka mused. "What do you think, Lyra?"

"I- I think we should do it!" Lyra clenched her fist in determination, and Dolly once again mimicked her actions. "Just travelling to all the gyms in Johto... That would be amazing!"

"Alright Professor." Tekka said, "We'll do it."

Professor Elm looked like he was about to shed a tear of prideful joy. "T-That's great! The two of you should go home first though, and at least talk it out with your parents. Right?"

"Yes!" Lyra said, "Let's go and see dad, Dolly!" And Lyra flew straight out the door and disappeared from sight with her Marill in tow.

"Thank you, Tekka." Professor Elm said. "And I'll be sure to call you if I learn anything about that egg."

Tekka nodded to the professor and followed after Lyra, Aniel prancing happily behind him.

---

"There it is, Dolly!" Lyra clenched her fist and Dolly mimicked her posture as always, the two of them laying low and peering over the tall Grass near the edge of Route 31. "We're going to catch her!"

The two of them were stalking a Hoothoot that was perched peacefully in the branches of one of the thick trees that lined the edge of the grassy path. The owl seemed serene, but its large red eyes were glowing in the rapidly decreasing light, surveying the area beneath it, looking for its next meal. Tekka and Aniel popped up out of the grass next to Lyra and Dolly, both of them looking at Lyra with a confused expression on their faces.

"But Lyra... It's all the way up there, and you're down here. How are you going to reach it?" Tekka asked.

"Heh heh heh..." Lyra glanced at him and grinned slyly. "We'll launch an aerial assault!"

"...What?"

Lyra grabbed Dolly with both hands and leapt to her feet, arched backwards and threw Dolly into the air with the force of her whole body. "Go~!" Lyra yelled, a madly excited expression on her face as the blue mouse took to the air.

Tekka watched in absolute disbelief as the pudgy, round missile flew at the unsuspecting Hoothoot. The poor creature's already enormous eyes grew even wider with surprise as its field of vision was filled with the supersonic blue blob. Dolly collided with the Hoothot in a shower of feathers and both of them fell from the tree branch to the earth below.

"Yes~~!" Lyra pumped the air and whipped a Dusk Ball out of her bag, and ran to the spot where Dolly and the Hoothoot were lying in an awkward heap, not wasting any time to capture the flabbergasted thing.

Tekka and Aniel stared in amazement as Lyra danced in victory, and Dolly regained her composure and joined her trainer in her celebratory moonlight dance.

"You're crazy." Tekka said flatly.

Lyra picked up the Dusk Ball and stuck her tongue out at Tekka, and tucked the ball back in her bag. Picking up Dolly, Lyra smiled warmly at the flabby rodent and hugged her tightly.

"It's really dark now... We should get to the centre in Violet City, we don't want to be stuck out here in the pitch black." Tekka said.

"Yeah." Lyra glanced at him, now rubbing the spot where Dolly had collided with the Hoothoot.

The two of them began walking the rest of the way toward Violet City, now visible just a little way off in the distance. The cityscape was old and ornate, and the city's strict building codes kept each and every new structure in accordance with the city's original design. As they got closer, Tekka found himself watching Lyra more often, the affection she and her Marill displayed for one another was something he hadn't seen in a long time.

"The two of you are really close, huh?" Tekka asked, shifting his eyes to the contented fuzzball.

"We've been together a long time." Lyra replied. "Sure she's a little clumsy, but I love her. The Professor gave her to me about five years ago... She was an Azurill then. I was so shocked when she changed into a Marill, I had never seen a Pokemon evolve before. I was so scared I nearly cried, I thought something awful was happening to Dolly. But the Professor told me that an Azurill evolves when it loves its trainer very much, and that her change was a good thing... He was always so kind to me."

Tekka looked over at Aniel, who was scanning the trees and the silhouette of the approaching city. All this scenery was new to her, and so different from the scenery of Sinnoh that she was used to. He had gone through a similar experience with Aniel when she had first evolved, though he didn't have the luxury of a mentor to let him know what was going on when it happened.

"I'm a little jealous though." Lyra continued. "Did you and Annie really win forty ribbons together?"

"Yeah." Tekka confirmed. "It was fun."

"How did you meet?" She asked again.

"Well..." Tekka looked again at Aniel then up the starry sky. "Seven years ago..."

---

The sun was high in a cloudless sky, beating down on the golden beaches of Hoenn's Slateport City. Tekka was nine years old, playing on the edge of the water and watching his family frolic out in the waves. He didn't really like the beach, he was afraid of the water, he wasn't a very good swimmer, and he had an irrational fear of Sharpedo attacks. Everyone told him he was silly for worrying about things like that, but he was nine years old, rationality didn't factor into his decision to stay on the beach.

Tekka was growing bored with sitting under the sun, and decided instead to explore the the resort around him. It probably wasn't the best idea to go wandering off alone, but of course, he was only nine years old.

The beach gave way to the sprawling Slateport harbour, and its pristine ivory white construction. Even though he was afraid to go into the water, Tekka couldn't help but admire how beautiful it all looked. The shimmering silver light reflected by the flowing crystal blue hues of the vast oceans was so different from the way it appeared in Snowpoint. The water there was dull and packed with ice, but here everything seemed so much more alive.

Tekka stopped his wandering suddenly when he came upon a store, just near the entrance to Slateport's open air market. Featured prominently on the store front was the picture of a large white Pokeball. Tekka had seen Pokeballs before, even Great balls and Ultra balls, but he had never seen one quite like this. It was completely white aside from a thin red band that replaced the normal black band that ran around the middle of the other types of balls he had seen. Beneath the picture were the words 'Get the new PREMIER ball FREE when you purchase ten or more Pokeballs!'

Tekka looked again at the picture of the ball and wondered to himself. '_If I had a water Pokemon that could fight a Sharpedo... Maybe I could go into the sea with everyone._'

Tekka walked into the store, setting off the entryway chime, and headed straight up to the counter. Tekka peered over the worktop to the rear wall, where a group of the featured premier balls were arranged in a neat row.

The storekeeper looked down at Tekka and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, what can I do for you?"

Tekka pointed to the row of balls on the back wall and spoke confidently. "I want a premier ball."

"You'll need to buy ten regular balls if you want one of those." The storekeeper informed him.

"How much?" Tekka asked, digging into his pockets.

"Two thousand." The storekeeper declared, chuckling at the child digging for money in his pockets.

Tekka withdrew his hand from his pocket and dropped a handful of coins on the counter.

The storekeeper sighed and picked up the coins, handing them back to him. "Now look here. There are other customers making a line behind you, so why don't you just come back later with your mother?"

"But I only want one ball." Tekka protested.

"This isn't enough for even half a ball." The storekeeper narrowed his eyes and tried to usher Tekka away from the counter.

"Fifteen Pokeballs please." Said a teenager in an oriental style shirt and matching spiked, red hair, walked up to the counter and stood next to Tekka.

Tekka wasn't a terribly good judge of ages, but the newcomer seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen, and he towered over Tekka taking away all of the storekeeper's attention.

"Certainly, young man." The storekeeper smiled, now completely ignoring Tekka, and he reached under the counter and produced three long clear packages, each one containing a row of five Pokeballs. "That'll be three thousand. Doing a lot of catching are we?"

"I've come from Johto, to hunt for Bagon in Meteor Falls."

"Ah!" The storekeeper exclaimed. "That's quite daring of you. But might I suggest you take some of our Great Balls instead? Bagon are notoriously difficult to catch in low rate balls like this."

"I'm aware of that." The young man said bluntly, and gave over a handful of notes.

"Well... Thank you very much, and good luck!" The storekeeper said, a little annoyed at having to give up on the sale of the more expensive set of Great Balls. "Next, please."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" The young man asked.

"Sorry?" The storekeeper asked.

The young man snapped his fingers and pointed at the back wall.

The storekeeper grit his teeth and reached backwards and grabbed one of the Premier Balls, and handed it to the young man, who didn't take it but instead looked down at Tekka who was still standing next to him.

"That one's yours I think." The young man smiled at Tekka, and the storekeeper's face visibly twitched as the aggravating feeling of humiliation swept over him.

Tekka took the Premier Ball, and the storekeeper slammed his hand down on the counter. "NEXT." He yelled and ushered both of them away out of the store.

"T-Thank you." Tekka said to the red haired young man as he eagerly examined the polished white orb, the two of them walking away from the harbour and toward the north exit of the city.

Outside the city gates, a large steel structure called the 'Cycling Road' rose above into the skyline, and beneath it, a thin stretch of land surrounded on both sides by a shallow stretch of water. The two of them walked toward a junction in the road, one end leading underneath the cycling path, and the other leading away to a pleasant looking stream that stretched out further than Tekka could see.

"Hey, it's no problem, though I hope I can still catch a Bagon with these. I'd hate to have come all this way for nothing." The young man smirked and waved one of the packages.

"I'm sorry..." Tekka said, and he started to hand the Premier Ball to to the older boy.

"Tch. You keep it, it's just another regular Pokeball in a fancy shell, you know. Don't let those signs out there fool you next time."

"Sorry..." Tekka said again, and tried to hand his mismatched coins to him instead.

The young man laughed heartily and waved Tekka's hand off again. "Just make sure you catch a good one, okay?"

"I will!" Tekka said determinedly.

"Haha, great! You remind me of someone I know back home. You're just like her." He smiled broadly. "Well... I'd better get going. The Bagon aren't going to catch themselves." He said as he started to walk away.

"Thank you so much, sir!" Tekka said, and waved goodbye to the youth.

"See you around, kid, and the name's Lance by the way." The red haired youth, Lance, waved one last time before disappearing under the elevated cycling path, heading off toward a looming rock face, far off in the distance. "Remember that name. I'll be famous one day."

Tekka looked at the ball happily as he turned to walk back to the beach, but before he left the crossroads he looked down the path to Route 103, and the stream, and without giving it another moments thought, headed down the path to the water's edge and knelt on the bank, looking into water trying to spot what might be living down there.

He could see a multitude of Magikarp and little else, and even as a beginner he knew that Magikarp were considered the some of the most useless creatures on the planet, though he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. He leaned in a little closer to see if there was anything interesting a little deeper, and yelped as the bank beneath him gave way sending him falling into the stream, disappearing from sight. The current was a lot stronger than it looked on the surface and Tekka kicked and thrashed about, holding onto the Premier Ball as tight as he could. But it wasn't any good, he had no control over what was going to happen to him now.

---

"Ahh!" Lyra gasped and drew Dolly in closer, and sat down on a very generic looking bed.

The two of them had now booked themselves into the Pokemon Centre for the night. Planning to visit the Violet City gym first thing in the morning. Sitting on the next bed over, Tekka smiled at Lyra's reaction to his story, and sitting next to him Aniel clung to his arm listening intently.

"What happened next? Did Annie pull you out of the water?" Lyra asked.

"Not quite." Tekka continued. "At that time Annie was in the forest on the eastern side of Route 102. So we weren't going to meet just yet."

"Did you really meet, Lance?" Lyra asked, seeming even more excited.

"Yeah." Tekka replied.

"THE Lance? The champion?!" Lyra leaned in even further.

"Yeah. That Lance."

"That's so cool! He's so cool! I mean... He's not as cool as Cynthia, but he's so strong! Kya!" Lyra blushed and squeezed Dolly tighter, a little too tight, and the Marill squeaked in protest.

Tekka's face dropped into a lop sided grin as he tried to hide the sudden spike of jealousy at her reaction, but he couldn't dispute what she was saying, he had followed Lance's career over the years ever since he had discovered they were born in the same city, and Tekka could certainly be considered one of the Dragon Master's fans.

"So what happened next?" Lyra asked, leaning back in to hear the rest of the story.

---

Tekka coughed and spluttered involuntarily, his body trying to clear the small amount of water that had flooded his body. After his body had finished wrenching the last drop of foreign liquid out of him, Tekka sat up, with the Premier Ball still held tightly in his arms and looked around to find himself sitting on the opposite bank of Route 103. There were several Magikarp flopping around on the bank next to him, and he sad for a few minutes in stunned silence, watching them helplessly flop on dry land.

It took him a few minutes to realize that they must have grouped together and saved him, using themselves to guide his body to the other bank. A twinge of guilt made him realize that he was just as useless in water as they were on land and he quickly set about pushing each of them back into the stream and letting them go back about their lives. When he was done, Tekka backed off from the stream, not wanting to risk falling into it again, and he lamented the state of his clothes as the fresh water dripped off his totally sodden body.

He didn't know where he was, and he had no idea how to get back. Tekka bit his lip hard to prevent his emotions from getting the better of him, and he turned around to look at the thick forested area that stretched out into the distance.

Tekka went west, through the trees and into the forest so he could stay on level ground rather than head south and down the slope. While walking and trying to avoid the trees that often sprang up in his path, he veered off to the left and even though he didn't know it at the time, he emerged from the thick woodland into the cleared path on Route 102. By the time he reached the route however, the sun was low in the sky, and he still had no idea where he was or how he was going to get home.

Not wanting to walk in the darkness for fear of what he might run into, Tekka sat at the base of a tree and waited, still nursing the Premier Ball as if it were a precious child.

"What am I going to do?" He asked nobody in particular.

As the light continued to fade away, Tekka's eyes grew heavy and he was on the verge of falling asleep underneath the gently swaying branches. A sudden screeching that seemed to penetrate to the very depths of his mind roused him from his impending slumber and his eyes snapped open wide, and his body began to pump with adrenaline. Tekka jumped to his feet and started to run, and it wasn't too long before the source of the painful screeching became apparent. In the remaining dim light of day, Tekka could see the form of a child shaped Pokemon with lily white skin, and a bowl shaped mop of green hair that obscured its line of sight, and a pair of short red plates that grew from the skin beneath. It was a female Ralts, a child stage Pokemon Tekka had not seen before except in pictures. She had been backed into a corner by a pair of ragged, black Poochyena, and Tekka could feel her fear and cries for help in the forefront of his mind as loudly as if they were being spoken aloud.

The black canine assailants barked viciously at the frightened Ralts, and she waved her small white arms out in front of her to try and ward them off. Tekka froze and watched, uncertain of what to do, he had been taught that harming any kind of Pokemon was something unforgivable and should never be done, but he didn't want to allow the ill mannered dogs to terrorize the gentle natured Ralts any further.

Tekka bit his lip again and ran forward, shouting at the top of his voice. "Get away from her!" And he stooped down, grabbing a loose rock from the ground and hurling it at the closest Poochyena. The rock hit its target but did little to change the creature's temperament, and in fact caused it to turn its ire on Tekka himself.

The dog turned and lunged at Tekka as he got close, trying to sink its teeth into his arm. Tekka was lucky and he moved to the side, the creature missed and skidded in the dirt, before turning to try again. Picking up another rock, Tekka threw it at the attacking Poochyena, striking it for a second time between the eyes, this time causing it to yelp and run off into the darkness. The remaining Poochyena was not deterred at all, and threw itself at the frightened Ralts, and made contact, sinking its teeth into its delicate white skin.

The Ralts cried in pain and Tekka suddenly felt enraged at the dog before even turning around to look at it. Tekka dropped the Premier Ball to the ground and ran at the dog, throwing his whole body into the creature and knocking it clear of its target before it could strike again. Tekka's body weight was enough to knock the fight right out of the remaining Poochyena, and it scampered off, yelping after its partner in crime.

Tekka got back to his feet and tended the Ralts, which was now nursing a wound from the attack. Tekka's face drooped with worry and he picked up the poor thing in his arms and carried it out into the clearing where he had dropped the Premier Ball. The Ralts was weak and Tekka feared for what might happen to it if he left it out in the wild without receiving care.

"I-I'm going to take you to a Pokemon Centre, so don't die." Tekka cried, and he picked up the Premier Ball, aiming its focal lens at the injured Ralts, capturing her inside the ball with no resistance. Tekka once again nestled the ball in his arms, taking off running through the clearing in search of somebody, anybody, now even more acutely aware of the precious cargo that was suspended inside it.

---

"And I eventually found my way to Petalburg City. The nurse in the Pokemon Centre there took the ball with Aniel inside it. I'm still so thankful to her for everything she did... I stayed up all night that night crying." Tekka looked a little embarrassed at the admission, but Aniel smiled and rubbed her head affectionately against his arm. "But you were okay weren't you? I was so worried, but I was so happy when she brought you back, and you smiled when you saw me. I'll never forget that moment."

Lyra's bottom lip trembled and tears welled at the bottom of her eyes. "Th-That's so-"

"Please don't..." Tekka cringed.

Lyra clamped her mouth closed and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I tried to return her to the wild." Tekka continued. "But no matter how many times I tried to set her free, Annie kept following me wherever I went. And when I eventually gave up and let her stay with me, she wouldn't go back inside the Premier Ball." Tekka explained, taking the white sphere out of his pocket and spinning it on the tip of his finger again.

"Eventually the nurse from the centre took me to an old man that lived on the edge of town, and the two of them took me in his boat back to Slateport... My parents were so angry with me for running off. My ears are still ringing from all the yelling my mum did after she stopped hugging me. And eventually I got Annie to go back inside the ball so she could be transported to PalPark in Sinnoh... Though you were a little grumpy when I picked you up weren't you?" Tekka chuckled. "It was the only way I could take you home you know. So don't be mad at me next time we go back."

Lyra sniffed and smiled warmly at the two of them. "I'm kinda jealous... You two have such an exciting story." She sighed dreamily looked at Aniel still nuzzling into Tekka's arm. "So, she became a Kirlia and you convinced your parents to let you take on the Hoenn contests?"

"Well..." Tekka thought for a second. "Annie really loved sweet food, so I often shared the candy I had with her. I'm not exactly sure why it worked the way it did, but eventually she evolved into a Kirlia, I was so shocked at the time, like you were, but she was so pretty."

Aniel giggled in delight at the compliment and squeezed his arm as tight as she could.

"After that we started performing together on the contest circuit, and again once we went back to Sinnoh."

Lyra was satisfied after hearing their story and seemed even more determined now not to let Dolly go.

"It's late..." Tekka said. "We've been talking for far too long."

"Yeah..." Lyra nodded. "And we've got a lot to do tomorrow if we're going to qualify."

"Well... Let's get some sleep."

"Alright." Lyra stretched her arms and let Dolly free to make herself comfortable at the end of the bed. "Goodnight, Tekka."

"Goodnight, Lyra."


	3. Chapter 3

**-Chapter 3 ~ Clipping The Wings**

The interior of the Violet City Gym resembled an enormous steel bird cage. Huge red pillars and their supporting struts towered overhead, holding up the sky blue ceiling and providing support for the floating platform near the top of the cavernous structure.

Tekka looked up at the floating platform where Lyra had gone. Right now she was battling against this gym's two apprentices, but it was difficult to tell how she was doing from down here. Tekka was certain that her Chikorita, Lemon, had been defeated early on, but Dolly and the Hoothoot she had named Amane, after a name she had seen carved into one of the magnificent buildings outside, were still fighting above.

Since Lyra had three companions, she was to battle to the apprentices consecutively in order to earn her first league qualification. Tekka, having less Pokemon than Lyra, had been told he would be facing the gym leader Falkner himself.

As it was their first league qualification, their Pokemon had been examined and their opponents selected for them at an appropriate skill level. Though they were told once this battle was over, they would be expected to make gradual training progress in between each gym challenge, as the number and strength of their opponents would be set incrementally in order to test their ability as a trainer.

Without warning, the elevator that had taken Lyra to the platform to face her challenge began to descend, and is it reached the ground level,Tekka could see Lyra with Dolly in her arms, petting the blue mouse lovingly but not giving any hint as to the outcome of her challenge.

"How did it go?" Tekka asked, trying to get a good look at her eyes.

One of Lyra's arms snapped up as she walked off the elevator, and she gave a victory sign and grinned proudly at Tekka. "No sweat!" She boasted. "You'd better get up there and catch up quick, or I might just leave you behind!"

Tekka snorted and tilted his head up, looking down his nose at Lyra. "Is that right?"

And without saying another word, Tekka stepped onto the elevator, closely followed by Aniel who was scowling at Lyra.

"Three minutes." Tekka said, holding up three fingers at Lyra as the elevator began to ascend away from her and back up to the floating platform.

When he reached the top, Tekka looked around the battle arena and frowned at what he saw. There were no guard rails on the long edges of the platform, and the actual fighting arena was extremely thin. It was dangerous without a doubt, and anything falling from this height would almost certainly be severely injured.

Tekka looked to the far end of the platform where a young man, just a little older than him, was standing in a stiff, ready posture. His long fringe covered one eye and the expression on his face was incredibly serious. Tekka and Aniel stepped forward to their marker on the Arena floor and Tekka withdrew Evil's Pokeball from his pockets, ready to get started.

"Welcome Tekka. I'm Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader." The young man introduced himself, flipping his hair away from his eye. "I'll be showing you the real power of the magnificent bird Pokemon!"

Reaching inside his overcoat, Falkner produced a regular Pokeball and tossed it into the arena, where it split open and released a small brown bird, Pidgey, which flapped its wings eagerly and ascended into the air, somehow hovering in place.

Tekka grinned at Falkner and tossed Evil's Pokeball in the air, catching it again and holding it out in front of him, and in a column of red light the small form of Evil materialized on the battle field, his signature flames igniting on his back. "Let's do it, Evil! Burn them to ashes!"

Evil took off running toward the Pidgey, and leapt at it. But the bird simply pushed itself up a little further and let Evil pass harmlessly beneath it. Evil turned on the spot and tried again, only this time receiving a peck on the head for his trouble. Evil scurried back to Tekka and shook its head, snorting a tiny jet of flame out of his nostrils.

"Alright! Let's make them blind!" Falkner said, swishing his arm through the air, and the Pidgey crowed in response and flapped its wings as hard as it could, blowing up a cloud of dust which spread across the arena floor, enveloping Evil and Tekka, obscuring their line of sight.

"Tch!" Tekka cursed, and waved the dust away from his face. "Evil, it's about time we put that fire of yours to good use."

Without giving it a second thought, Evil charged through the dust cloud, taking a deep breath and exhaling a searing hot glob of flame at the hovering bird. Evil's attack missed again, and the Pidgey dove to evil, striking him on the head with its beak.

"One more time!" Tekka yelled, and Evil shook off the attack and rounded on the Pidgey, belching another glob of fire at it, this time striking it head it on and knocking it out of the air.

Dazed and singed, the Pidgey flapped its wings rapidly trying to create another dust screen, but Evil ran straight through the cloud and threw itself into the bird with a full body tackle. The Pidgey careered over the edge of the arena, and began to fall the great distance to the ground below, but Falkner's quick reactions caught the Pidgey in the Pokeball's column of light, bringing back to safety.

"That was pretty good." Falkner said, returning the ball to his overcoat and producing a second, sending it out into the Arena. "But how will you fair against this one?"

The second ball split to release another bird into the air. This one twice the size of the first, a Pidgeotto with fine, earth coloured plumage interwoven with cream and red tail feathers, a slick crimson headdress crowning its keen eyes.

"One more shot, Evil! Don't let up on it!" Tekka ordered, clenching his fist tight.

Evil drew in another deep breath and charged at the larger bird, but before he could launch his attack, the fast moving creature cut down through the air and blew Evil backwards, following up quickly with a second full body assault that threw him back to Tekka's feet.

Evil tried to stand back up, not wanting to admit defeat. But Tekka already had his Pokeball trained on him, waiting to take him back inside.

"That's okay, Evil. You did great, leave it to us from here on." Tekka smiled at the little flaming beast and drew him back inside the Pokeball. "Annie." Tekka said, narrowing his eyes at the Pidgeotto through the dust cloud. "Start by cleaning this place up a little."

Aniel took a bow and skipped forward into the arena. Clapping her hands together, Aniel caused a spherical wave of psychic power to blow all the dust out of the Arena revealing the form of the Pidgeotto in crystal clarity.

The Pidgeotto watched Aniel warily as it hovered in the air. She smiled wickedly, her green hair swaying as she twirled on the spot. Falkner stuttered, seeming captivated by Aniel's movements, fumbling his command and allowing Tekka to take the initiative in the battle.

"No time for fancy moves, Annie. Hit them with everything you've got."

Aniel drew her hands together again, charging a mass of psychic energy between her hands, then sending it hurtling through the air at her opponent. The bird tried to dodge the wave of energy, but to no avail, the psychic power traced its path through the air and struck it square on, knocking it down flat against the arena floor.

"G-Gust!" Falkner said, finally regaining his composure.

The Pidgeotto drew itself back up to its full height, but staggered around, confused and disoriented from being hit by Aniel's psychic assault. Shaking itself free of its confusion, the Pidgeotto took to the air again, whipping up another dust storm that enveloped Aniel, twisting violently around her.

"Annie!" Tekka yelled urgently for his partner. "It's no match for you! One more time and it's over!"

Aniel clapped her hands together again, clearing the air and knocking the Pidgeotto back a little.

"Move! As fast as you can!" Falkner yelled to his Pokemon. "Don't let her hit you again!"

But it was no good. Even as the bird used its powerful wings to sweep itself to the side, the space between Aniel's hands was brimming with psychic energy, and she launched it at the Pidgeotto, and span on the spot in a premature victory dance as it slammed into her opponent, knocking it out of the air once again.

The Pidgeotto slumped to the deck, completely exhausted, and Falker ran forward to tend to it. "I-Incredible." He stammered. "I know I've only just taken over- but-"

Returning the Pidgeotto to its ball, Falkner stood and dusted himself off. Aniel had already bound back to Tekka, hugging him happily as he rubbed her head in appreciation.

"I guess I've got no choice." Falkner continued, "The Zephyr Badge is yours, and consider yourself officially entered into the Pokemon League Qualifiers." He walked to Tekka and handed over elliptical badge that looked like a cross between a pair of wings and a bird cage. "But there are still a lot of gyms ahead, and all of them will be a lot more experienced than me. I hope you're ready for them! Your next appointed match will be in Azalea Town, good luck!"

Tekka nodded to Falkner in thanks, and Aniel took a bow as well.

Falkner smirked and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm going to get back to training as well. Next time we meet, I'll be the greatest bird keeper of all time!"

Tekka and Aniel stepped back on the elevator together, and descended back to the gym floor. Lyra waved excitedly at them as they came back down. "Way to go, you three!" She shouted gleefully. "You were really into it, Tekka. I could hear you yelling from all the way down here!"

"Thanks, Lyra." Tekka smiled, and gave her the same victory sign she'd show earlier, only a little more half heartedly.

"Heh heh." She smirked. "While you were busy, Professor Elm called, he wants us to take care of that egg."

"You mean we're going to have to trudge all the way back to New Bark?"

"No way!" Lyra shook her head. "He's sending one of his assistants to bring it to us. We're going to meet him at the market next door."

---

No matter how many times he set foot inside one of these stores, Tekka always flashed back to that first time when Lance had purchased Aniel's Premier Ball and given it to him, even though the two of them were strangers. This time however, the focus of attention was a nervous looking man in a long white lab coat, nursing an egg uncomfortably as he waited in the foyer of the busy shop front.

Tekka and Lyra, with their respective partners, set off the entry chime as they stepped inside, and Elm's assistant gave them a nod and an uneasy grin as a greeting, and held out the egg to Tekka.

"Professor Elm sends his regards. This egg is nearly ready to hatch, it shouldn't be more than a day or two, and the Professor was insistent that you should be the one to take care of it, Tekka." The assistant said, happy to be free of his charge.

Tekka looked at the pink spotted egg carefully. It had the same patterns that he had seen before but it seemed a little bigger, but maybe it was just his imagination. As far as eggs went it was already quite large, just over a foot tall, and he had to admit he was just as curious as everyone else to find out what was inside it.

Aniel marvelled at the egg, which was half her size and far too big for her to carry, and Tekka noted that this would have been the first Pokemon egg she'd ever seen other than the remains of her own. But it was likely that she didn't even remember that day. Tekka wondered if she remembered her parents, when he had found her she was alone and imperilled, with no sign of any family to come to her rescue. At the time it hadn't occurred to Tekka that the reason she had not wanted to return to the wild was that she would be alone again, he was young at that time, he wouldn't have imagined that a child could be left to fend for itself in such a place.

Thinking about it now though, Tekka had come to the realization that the Poochyena he had fought off, would have had parents as well, Mightyena. Like their smaller offspring they were aggressive, and naturally immune to the psychic powers of the Ralts family line. Tekka bit his teeth together in discomfort as the thought of Aniel's birth parents being mauled by Mightyena flickered through his mind.

Aniel looked to him suddenly, her face awash with concern and she gripped tightly onto his leg, wanting to know what was making her master feel so uncomfortable.

Tekka smiled at her, and pushed the thought out of his head, not wanting his own morbid thoughts to cause Aniel undue distress. The pyschic emotional bond they had developed was a veritable double edged sword, and their feelings had become co-dependent over the years. Tekka and likewise Aniel, didn't like to feel each other's sadness.

"Azalea Town is waiting for us." Tekka said, wanting to place his hand on Aniel's head but having his hands full holding the egg. "We're really going to do this, huh?"

Aniel gave him a slight smiled look that said; 'We can do it!'

"We should get moving before we lose too much daylight." Lyra pointed out.

Tekka nodded in agreement. "Then let's hope we can get through Azalea Town without any trouble."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

My apologies to everyone that has added this story to their favourites and watchlists but I find myself unable to continue writing it. Pokemon is not an easy subject for me to write for, especially as I find it terribly cringe inducing at times, despite the enormous enjoyment I get from the games.

I did write something of an ending for it though. It was actually the first thing I wrote, way before I had even completed the first chapter, and I have included it below for anybody that wishes to read it.

Things that were meant to happen before this point:

_Team Rocket were defeated._

_Aniel evolves into Gardevoir._

_Lyra, having fallen in love with Silver, stays with him to train at the Dragon's Den._

_Tekka loses to Lance at the Pokemon League, then meets Cynthia._

_Tekka summons Giratina at the Sinjoh Ruins and attempts to capture it, but is mortally wounded by it in the process, prompting Aniel to expend most of her energy to open a vortex to help him flee to safety._

I hope you may enjoy the half-assed ending. Again, sorry for the disappointment.

* * *

Aniel's black hole, which had swallowed Tekka and herself, dissipated into a tiny speck of darkness before disappearing completely. The spacial anomaly had deposited the distraught Gardevoir and her trainer inside a large golden hall, bordered on all sides by transparent walls that looked out into a cloudy blue sky and a distant expanse of land that stretched out below and far off into the distance.

"Annie..." Tekka gapsed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't, strong enough..." And his words trailed off, the ability to speak now lost to him.

Aniel cradled Tekka's head in her lap, fraught with fear as his precious life blood spilled out onto the golden stone walkway beneath them. The gaping wound in his gut, inflicted by one of the great talons of the spectral dragon, showed no signs of healing, and Aniel was at a loss for what to do to save her master's life. There were no techniques that she knew, and no powers that she possessed which could heal such severe trauma, she could only cry helplessly and stare into his eyes as he slowly slipped away.

There was a rhythmic clacking sound, emanating from the end of the hallway, and what sounded like an electronic wail. The clacking grew louder and an enormous steed of pure white emerged from the shade, golden hooves continuing to send the sound around the hall as it advanced toward Aniel. A golden jewel was set in its forehead, and another golden frame wrapped tightly around its midsection. Set into its pure white head however, was a deep black face and two sets of emotionless, bright green eyes.

The giant steed considered Aniel for a second, turning its head to the side as if it wasn't sure what to make of her, then shifted its unblinking gaze to Tekka as he lay bleeding on the ground. The steed reared its front legs as if it were about to attack, and slammed them down on the ground, creating a high pitched wave of sound that caused Aniel to shrink back briefly but ultimately caused her to wrap her arms defensively around Tekka's head and chest.

"I will not allow you to take him." Aniel declared to the steed as it loomed over her.

The steed's head bobbed backwards in surprise at the words that came forth from her mouth. It seemed as though it wanted to express its surprise to her but only another electronic screech issue forth from its face.

"You," Aniel narrowed her eyes at the large creature, "You cannot speak?"

The steed shook its head in acknowledgment, and scrutinized the Gardevoir again, longer this time, then raised one of its front legs to point at the psychic plate which had been fashioned into a bracelet around Aniel's slender arm to increase her powers, but even the boost granted by the plate had not been enough to defeat the spectral dragon.

"You want this?" She asked, and without waiting for a response, she removed the plate from its home on the bracelet and placed it on the ground before the steed.

The steed lowered its leg, placing the golden hoof on the plate. In an instant, the steed's golden adornments flashed and shifted to a vibrant pink, nodding its head toward Aniel.

'_We, are the Alpha,_' The steed spoke directly into her mind, 'We_, are Arceus, but we are not complete._'

"You are the Alpha?" Aniel gawped at Arceus, barely able to fathom that a being claiming to be her god had appeared suddenly before her.

'_This human shall soon perish, and you shall be free, as we had intended you to be free._' Arceus continued.

"Can you save him?" Aniel asked.

'_We will not._' Arceus stated.

"I beg you, Alpha, if you have the power save him, please save my master!" Aniel clapsed her hands together and again implored Arceus to comly.

'_Our humans have grown too strong,_' Arceus continued, '_Their eternal quest for power, and their dominance over all species was never intended. We wish only for it to end, and for all our children to be free. Your desire to save him, is only the result of his forced dominance. You will be saved... From his corruption._'

"I have not been forced!" Aniel protested, "I have stayed with Tekka by choice!"

A light from Tekka's belt briefly lit up the hall, and each of his partners emerged into the physical world in a stream of red light. Blade, Evil, Nodoka, Harpo, and Lareth all aligned themselves behind Aniel and their wounded trainer, their determined gazes boring into Arceus' empty green eyes.

"We have all stayed with him by choice!" Aniel added, "We have served him because he has served us! We have been equal, and together we have changed the world! Without him, without his determination to fight for all of us, we would only have suffered! And after all he has done for all of us, you would let Giratina take his life?"

The assembled friends cried in protest, though they could not speak with human words like Aniel, they understood their meaning, and Arceus equally understood their cries.

"We beg you, please save him!"

'_We have heard you, and we understand. We will not wish for our human child to die._' Arecus admitted, but its tone shifted from monotony to melancholy, '_But we cannot save him. Our power has been dispersed throughout this world, and only our will remains trapped within this body. We can no longer create life without the power which we have bestowed upon our children._'

"The power that we have?" Aniel asked.

Arceus twisted its head sideways to examine Aniel once more. '_You have much power. Your power is enough to save our child, but we do not wish to sacrifice one child to save another. All that you are is dependent on the power we have given you. Without this power, you will cease to be._'

"I want to save him." Aniel stated stubbornly.

Arceus raised its head to its full height and looked down on its assembled children. '_We will grant you one wish if it is within the limit of your power. Child, what is it that you wish?_'

Aniel looked down at Tekka, he was still unable to speak, but he could see the fear in his eyes. Begging her to save her life even at the expense of his own. But she could not allow it and and she drew closer to him, pressing all of her being against him in one last display of love.

"I want us to be together." She said confidently. "I want us to stay together for as long as we can."

Arceus withdrew its hoof from the psychic plate and regained its golden framework. Whatever thoughts it may have had were now lost to Aniel as the magnificent creature began to shimmer and distort the space around it.

The gathered friends shielded their eyes at the intensifying light, and Aniel and Tekka were hoisted into the air by an unseen force. The light grew so bright that it seemed they might all go blind, and all too soon the entire world seemed to be consumed by this radiance, Tekka and his most trusted friend disappeared into the blinding rays.

The snow drifted down gently in the city. It had been a long time since Tekka had seen a natural snowflake, but now he was watching them flow slowly through the air outside his window. He shivered a little, and pulled the covers further over himself to hide in the warmth of his own body heat.

He almost expected to feel the familiar pressure of his affectionate Ralts jump onto his duvet, trying to rouse him from his lazy morning sloth, but he knew that wasn't coming. Tekka peeled back the duvet and peered again at the window, and sill beneath it. Five balls arranged in a neat row, all of them containing the resting forms of his dearest friends... But of course... one was missing.

The white ball which had been the scant used home of his Ralts, Kirlia, and finally Gardevoir, was no longer with the others. The ball had been lost... Tekka had woken up in the Sinjoh ruins with only five balls, Aniel's premier ball was nowhere to be found.

Tekka sighed and threw back the covers, knowing that he shouldn't be spending all day in bed, and it shouldn't be up to Aniel to make him remember that every morning. Making his way groggily into the bathroom, Tekka washed the sleep from his eyes and dressed himself before making his way downstairs.

His mother was nowhere to be seen, no doubt she was outside enjoying the snow with Lyra's mother. Tekka couldn't help but wonder how Lyra was doing, and if she was happy being with Silver and Clair in the Dragon's Den. He was sure she would be happy with him, but he would like to hear from her once in a while, since as far as Tekka was concerned, that guy still wasn't trustworthy.

Tekka stepped outside into the snow, and looked up at the cloudy sky and falling white flakes. It was beautiful no matter how many times he saw it and he was glad the snow had made its way to Kanto finally.

"It really is beautiful isn't it? I can see why you missed it so badly." An airy feminine voice said from behind him.

Tekka turned and smiled at the figure sitting on a sheltered bench outside his home, and the human girl with forest green hair, donned in a flowing white dress, stood to meet him. She strode pridefully to his side, looping his arm with her own.

Tekka held out his free hand to let a few flakes of snow settle, and melt in his palm. "Do you regret it, Annie?" He asked, "Giving up your powers?"

"Being a human is strange." The girl replied and nestled her head into his shoulder, smiling warmly at the happy feeling it gave both of them. "But you know that I don't."

The two of them turned to face each other and joined hands, staring blissfully into each others eyes.

"This is everything..." Tekka started.

"...That I ever wanted." Aniel finished.

Their lips met tenderly beneath the snowfall, and they stayed like that, neither of them wanting to break away from the other. The excitement of this adolescent adventure was finally at an end, and now it was time for them to embark on a journey of a different kind.

-End.


End file.
